Is Map on iPhone Taking Cars and Trucks Onto Jersey Shore Boardwalk?

VENTNOR CITY — Everyone got a laugh out of the tractor trailer that drove on the boardwalk. But now the real work begins on checking for the damage it may have caused.

It was the second time in a month a truck wound up on the boardwalk, officials say.

A Texas truck driver drove onto the boardwalk in Atlantic City early Wednesday. It then traveled about 2 miles south almost to the end of the boardwalk in Ventnor City. The truck wasn't able to make a turn onto a ramp to get off. The cab was later detached and driven off while a tow truck removed the trailer.

A wayward tractor trailer on the Ventnor boardwalk (Ventnor City CommissionerLance Landgraf, Jr.)

Ventnor City Public Works Commissioner Lance Landgraf Jr. said his crew had to remove the railing, fill in the inner area where the truck had to eventually turn, and put in put in extra planking to raise the elevation.

His workers have inspected the boardwalk as much as they can to make sure it's safe. Public Works and police vehicles are on the boardwalk daily but the boardwalk doesn't get a lot of daily foot traffic in the off season.

"We will have a structural engineer review the length of our boardwalk. They'll make sure that none of the structural members of the structure are damaged."

Landgraf said he noticed a slight sag where the cab was sitting, which was between two support beams.

"Even though the truck was empty it was a fairly heavy truck," Landgraf said.

Landgraf said that people unfamiliar with the area who put a boardwalk address into the GPS will get directions taking them onto the boardwalk.

"Boardwalks are right of ways, which is legal term of a street."

Entering "200 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ," for example, on the iPhone's Maps app gives directions that make it appear as if a vehicle can drive on the boardwalk in Ventnor City.

Although the detailed, street-by-street directions on the iPhone map instructs a user to park on South Pittsburgh Avenue and walk to the final destination, the map visually shows a blue line from the street to the boardwalk.

Putting that same address in Google Maps, however, takes you to a different spot in Atlantic City about 5 miles away. The Google location, however, has directions that end on a street, not the boardwalk.

The insurance company for CRST will also be contacted in order to recover the costs of getting the truck off the boardwalk and the inspections.

The driver was only ticketed for having an improper vehicle on the boardwalk.

"He was not drunk, he was not on drugs. He was lost," Landgraf said.

Landgraf said a small delivery truck drove up and was able to make the turn and leave the area but damaged the railing. People took pictures of him and police were able to track him down via his license plate.